Twitter cuts a $40 million check to buy TweetDeck

Mark Raby, 24th May 2011

Twitter has just inked one of its most expensive deals to take.
The microblogging site has reportedly sealed a deal to purchase TweetDeck, a company that specializes in creating more visually pleasing ways for displaying tweets.

Neither Twitter nor TweetDeck has officially confirmed the sale. An official tweet from Twitter remarked, "For all those who might be curious, we continue to not comment on rumors."

However, publications including Cnet, PCMag, and CNN all claim the deal was completed yesterday.

Twitter opens up all of its content to third-party developers, making it possible for anyone to create their own unique ways of interacting with the site.

The company has bought a handful of these independent development companies, including the maker of a Twitter iPhone app and a group that created a seamless way to link pictures to Twitter posts.

By scooping up these companies, Twitter can integrate their features directly into the site's source code and making them accessible by every one of the millions of Twitter users. Despite being start-up companies, though, the buyout offers have been rather generous.

It's unknown how the TweetDeck acquisition will be integrated into Twitter, but it could mean a complete overhaul of the site's interface since it focuses on re-organizing the way all of the content is displayed.